Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of aggressively attacking the armed organization in the Gaza Strip. According to Erdogan, Israel's strikes were motivated by the Knesset elections scheduled to take place in about two months.

Erdogan said he would speak by phone with US President Barack Obama later on Friday and that Ankara was also seeking talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the prospect of a full Israeli ground invasion. (AFP, AP)